Which is the cosiest voice,
The piping droning noise
When the kettle hums,
Or this little old-fashioned wheel
Spinning gray thrums?
Gray thrums! What wheel, you ask,
Turns at such pleasant task
With a soft whirr?
Why, the one in pussy's throat
That makes her purr.
Listen the rippling sound,
And think how round and round
The spindle goes,
As the drowsy thread she spins
Drowsily grows.
What will she do with it
When it is finished? Knit
Some mittens new?
Or shuttle it, and weave cloth
As weavers do?
A funny idea that,
A spinning wheel in a cat!
Yet how it hums!
Our puss is gray, so of course
She spins gray thrums.
Clara Doty Bates
1838-1895
Monday, February 02, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Invitation to The Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam
Feel free to copy the following to your blog and spread the word. Let poetry bless the blogosphere once again!
WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading
WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2009
WHERE: Your blog
WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day
HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.
RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun. Started by Reya at The Gold Puppy, continued by Deborah Oak at branches up, roots down, and Morgaine at Spin for Peace.
Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.
WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading
WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2009
WHERE: Your blog
WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day
HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.
RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun. Started by Reya at The Gold Puppy, continued by Deborah Oak at branches up, roots down, and Morgaine at Spin for Peace.
Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Port Townsend & Seattle, Washington
On the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, where we will get picked up by Suzanne Murray, owner of The Twisted Ewe in Port Townsend. This is the third year she has had me come up for events in tandem with the great Fort Worden Knitter's Retreat. Nearly 200 ladies stay in the officer's housing or barracks and they knit, shop, eat, nap and enjoy each other's company. There are no classes, but they do have a fashion show and a yarn trade. I look forward to this event every year. Such fun!
This is a photo from the ferry as we are approaching Bainbridge Island. I had never been there before, so was really happy to get a chance to be there. Curious Creek Fibers is now being stocked at Churchmouse Yarns & Teas in the village and it is an awesome shop! So classy and clean and the teas in the back are an extra added bonus!
Phil installed in his reading chair at Suzanne and Brien Murray's home in Pt. Townsend. This is the first year Phil was able to come along and it was nice. We do so enjoy traveling together.
This is my friend Darin Fisher. I met her my first year in Pt. Townsend and we have stayed in contact. She always comes with her mom who lives down here in S. CA, as well as a few other family friends who are all just wonderful. I honestly don't know Darin's mom's name, I always call her Mom! 
This photo is of the view from our stay on Bainbridge Island which was after the Pt. Townsend events. I showed up on Sunday November 2nd and set up my samples and hung out and talked to folks from noon to five. The shop was very busy as many of the Ft. Worden retreaters were visiting Churchmouse on their way back home. It was really fun to see so many familiar faces, and we sold lots of yarn. Monday morning we awoke to the most delightful meal from our hostess, a woman who works at Churchmouse and her husband put us up. The photo above is from the guest room at their home. Bacon, eggs, fresh coffee, scones freshly out of the oven, recipe from The Bread Bible. Oh yum! She took us to the ferry and while we were boarding as walk on passengers, look what we saw...a motor scooter equipped with a rain roof!
Phil and I went on to spend two days in Seattle sightseeing. We found a wonderful bookstore called Elliot Bay Books, and a great toy store very near there but I can't remember the name of it. We tried to go up in the Space Needle, but it was really expensive and the restaurant wasn't open which would have made the cost more reasonable, so we just took some photos and ate at a really good dive bar all hours diner not far from there. They were watching Mad Max on the TV with subtitles, it was great!
We also visited our new store called Hilltop Queen Anne. It is situated in an old home, possibly a craftsmen style and it was great. Phil and I met with Jenny, the store buyer and her three year old son. We had coffee and while Jenny and I chatted all things fiber, Phil and her son...I can't remember his name but he was darling...read books, colored and played. It was delightful.
A pretty rug I saw in a gallery window that was closed...note to self, many museums and galleries are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
And finally, on our bus ride up to Queen Anne, I couldn't resist taking a photo of this. Complete irreverance for the political climate. One day before the presidential election. Oh yeah.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Autumnal Travels
This year was my third year of traveling in the Autumn months to stores to teach color classes and have yarn tastings or yarn feasts. Often what folks want from me is to hear the story of how Curious Creek Fibers was started and how I continue to be creative and develop new colorways. We also play with yarn and show samples in trunk shows.
Before I left this year, it was as frantic as it always is trying to get everything prepared and shipped in time, and to be out of my busy studio for more than a weekend. The orders in house must be shipped, my traveling valise must have all of my goodies and I always feel the need to clean the house before I go.
The family around me continued to do what they do and here are some photos:
Cosworth teaches young Value about eating the prey one catches. This is a small mouse and Cos' mom (me) was very proud of him!
The kits for the yarn feast at The Web*sters in Ashland, OR are almost finished! Each kit includes two colorways of six yarns, allowing for great color and texture combinations.
Our pet garden spider came to live near our front door sometime in late August or early September. We named her Bella because my friend and neighbor Lainie and I were reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and the spider always came out at Twilight. Bella ate well here on Palm Street on her own, but she was helped along by Steven and the children, and as they fed her moths and other live bugs they caught, she just got bigger and bigger and bigger. Isn't she pretty?
We had an impromptu Palm Street backyard party the Sunday before I left, and the kids put on a play. The small pile of what looks like clothing on the left side of the photo is actually Melia who crumpled to the ground giggling when everyone was bowing for their audience. It was adorable!
Kadie, Melia and Shawna like my Honda Night Hawk and pretend they are going with me
to Oregon.
When I arrived in Ashland, I had not gone to bed the night before because I had to be ready for this four day trip, as well as the next trip with Phil for another week in the Seattle area. There was plenty to do. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was going to be staying at a little farm where Romney sheep are kept and bred. I was shown to my sweet little guest house and promptly slept until six pm.
This is the first sunset I saw in Ashland, and it was beautiful!
This is the first morning after I awoke and felt revived! What a gorgeous town and surrounding area. I am only sorry I didn't have time to go see a play since this is the place of the Shakespearean Festival.
I walked around the farm in the early evening to do some sight seeing. It isn't very often you are a guest on a farm that has a flock of Romney Sheep!
This is a photo up the trunk of a beautiful tree in royal Autumnal color. I used the flash and it didn't look special.
Here is the same tree at the exact same time of the evening with no flash. I held the camera against the trunk to steady. The tree trunk in darkness, coupled with the orange leaves against the blue sky with the yellowish green tree in the background is just gorgeous. Oh the Autumnal color!
A few yards along, I came across what I was searching for, the Romney Ladies. There are about thirty of them here, some have black faces others white, but they all have white wool . Romney is bred for meat and wool. 
Here are the Ladies again with no flash, camera being held steady against the fence post which was greyed from weather and time and had the prettiest colors of lichen growing upon it, but I couldn't get a good shot so you'll have to imagine greens, orange and yellowish gold against grey. Mmmm.
Here is the lone Romney Dude. Those are his Ladies!
A lovely shot of some of the Romney sheep in their lovely field.
Solo - the boy who keeps them all safe. He is not a great Pyrennes, but now I can't remember the breed! He is named Solo because he was an only child which is rare in his breed. He is very sweet. When I first tried to take his photo, he shied away from me because things that make noise usually mean vaccinations! He was a lovely dog.
The wool barn at sunset...look at those colors! I want to paint some fabric in those exact colors with yarn and threads to match...can you imagine how gorgeous a fiber piece would be using this as inspiration? Oi!
The creek in Ashland looks really pleasant, and for the most part it is, but there are photos around town of a flood that took place sometime in the 1980s that shows it raging out of its confines. My store owner and her husband were flooded and the stories I heard were harrowing!
A cool site in Ashland, a fellow out for a ride on his motorcycle with his doggie in the side car. Pretty cute!
Katie the Cutie, one of the wonderful staff members. What a gorgeous store. Dona Zimmerman, the owner, is an amazing force. She knows how to make people feel like they are important. The customer service in this store is top notch and she only carries quality products and art to wear. I am just thrilled to have my Curious Creek Fibers represented in her store.
This is a shot of the store from the back area, where I was having my trunk show. It does not do the store justice, but I am including it here for sentimental reasons. When I am an old woman with a terrible memory I will appreciate this poorly lit photo, I just know it!
This is the room where my trunk show was set up, it was one of the best spaces I have ever been in. It made me realize I need many more samples but it still looked lovely and was well received by the people who came in to check it out.
The other part of the trunk show room. Look at all those lovely stitching books!
The participants in our wonderful yarn feast. There was lovely food, everyone received one of the kits I made up in the pretty clear plastic egg cartons, and it was really fun answering all of their questions. We were at this long table with me at one end and Dona at the other and if I couldn't answer a question, or Dona had something to add, she did. She is a font of information that lady! It was an awesome event, I had a blast and the ladies were a kick!
Right before I left San Diego, Lainie had been trying to call forth Autumn because the weather in San Diego had been unseasonably hot and dry and we were ready for the cooler temps and possibly some rain. In order to get Autumn to come, she knit a pumpkin in our yarn called Omo that is dyed in a lovely orange color we call Cowardly Lion. She was very kind and let me bring it along for the trunk show. Once I slept and awoke in Ashland, where Autumn was in full swing, I decided that the pumpkin needed a friend, so I knit an eggplant in the same yarn in the colorway called Moon Shine...a deep dark brownish purple.
The vegetables went over very well, and Katie the Cutie at the store suggested that I knit a Warty Gourd. Never having knit a bobble before, I looked it up in one of the myriad books and off I went. I started a Delica Squash but once I left Ashland I never finished it. Maybe one day, but not today.
In order to fly to Ashland, you actually fly into Medford and drive 15 miles south. This is the little tiny plane we flew on. Goodbye Ashland, thanks for the wonderful time. I will be back with my family!
Before I left this year, it was as frantic as it always is trying to get everything prepared and shipped in time, and to be out of my busy studio for more than a weekend. The orders in house must be shipped, my traveling valise must have all of my goodies and I always feel the need to clean the house before I go.
The family around me continued to do what they do and here are some photos:
Cosworth teaches young Value about eating the prey one catches. This is a small mouse and Cos' mom (me) was very proud of him!
The kits for the yarn feast at The Web*sters in Ashland, OR are almost finished! Each kit includes two colorways of six yarns, allowing for great color and texture combinations.
Our pet garden spider came to live near our front door sometime in late August or early September. We named her Bella because my friend and neighbor Lainie and I were reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and the spider always came out at Twilight. Bella ate well here on Palm Street on her own, but she was helped along by Steven and the children, and as they fed her moths and other live bugs they caught, she just got bigger and bigger and bigger. Isn't she pretty?
We had an impromptu Palm Street backyard party the Sunday before I left, and the kids put on a play. The small pile of what looks like clothing on the left side of the photo is actually Melia who crumpled to the ground giggling when everyone was bowing for their audience. It was adorable!
Kadie, Melia and Shawna like my Honda Night Hawk and pretend they are going with me
to Oregon.
When I arrived in Ashland, I had not gone to bed the night before because I had to be ready for this four day trip, as well as the next trip with Phil for another week in the Seattle area. There was plenty to do. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was going to be staying at a little farm where Romney sheep are kept and bred. I was shown to my sweet little guest house and promptly slept until six pm.
This is the first sunset I saw in Ashland, and it was beautiful!
This is the first morning after I awoke and felt revived! What a gorgeous town and surrounding area. I am only sorry I didn't have time to go see a play since this is the place of the Shakespearean Festival.
I walked around the farm in the early evening to do some sight seeing. It isn't very often you are a guest on a farm that has a flock of Romney Sheep!
This is a photo up the trunk of a beautiful tree in royal Autumnal color. I used the flash and it didn't look special.
Here is the same tree at the exact same time of the evening with no flash. I held the camera against the trunk to steady. The tree trunk in darkness, coupled with the orange leaves against the blue sky with the yellowish green tree in the background is just gorgeous. Oh the Autumnal color!
A few yards along, I came across what I was searching for, the Romney Ladies. There are about thirty of them here, some have black faces others white, but they all have white wool . Romney is bred for meat and wool.This photo was taken only a few moments after the two tree photos above. This one with the flash cracks me up because all you can really see is their scaredy-sheep eyes looking at me. They were pretty much chickens, again, anything that whirred or made noise scared them because machines are bad news to a sheep...vaccinations, etc.
Here is the lone Romney Dude. Those are his Ladies!
A lovely shot of some of the Romney sheep in their lovely field.
Solo - the boy who keeps them all safe. He is not a great Pyrennes, but now I can't remember the breed! He is named Solo because he was an only child which is rare in his breed. He is very sweet. When I first tried to take his photo, he shied away from me because things that make noise usually mean vaccinations! He was a lovely dog.
The wool barn at sunset...look at those colors! I want to paint some fabric in those exact colors with yarn and threads to match...can you imagine how gorgeous a fiber piece would be using this as inspiration? Oi!
The creek in Ashland looks really pleasant, and for the most part it is, but there are photos around town of a flood that took place sometime in the 1980s that shows it raging out of its confines. My store owner and her husband were flooded and the stories I heard were harrowing! 
A cool site in Ashland, a fellow out for a ride on his motorcycle with his doggie in the side car. Pretty cute!
Katie the Cutie, one of the wonderful staff members. What a gorgeous store. Dona Zimmerman, the owner, is an amazing force. She knows how to make people feel like they are important. The customer service in this store is top notch and she only carries quality products and art to wear. I am just thrilled to have my Curious Creek Fibers represented in her store.
This is a shot of the store from the back area, where I was having my trunk show. It does not do the store justice, but I am including it here for sentimental reasons. When I am an old woman with a terrible memory I will appreciate this poorly lit photo, I just know it!
This is the room where my trunk show was set up, it was one of the best spaces I have ever been in. It made me realize I need many more samples but it still looked lovely and was well received by the people who came in to check it out.
The other part of the trunk show room. Look at all those lovely stitching books!
The participants in our wonderful yarn feast. There was lovely food, everyone received one of the kits I made up in the pretty clear plastic egg cartons, and it was really fun answering all of their questions. We were at this long table with me at one end and Dona at the other and if I couldn't answer a question, or Dona had something to add, she did. She is a font of information that lady! It was an awesome event, I had a blast and the ladies were a kick!
Right before I left San Diego, Lainie had been trying to call forth Autumn because the weather in San Diego had been unseasonably hot and dry and we were ready for the cooler temps and possibly some rain. In order to get Autumn to come, she knit a pumpkin in our yarn called Omo that is dyed in a lovely orange color we call Cowardly Lion. She was very kind and let me bring it along for the trunk show. Once I slept and awoke in Ashland, where Autumn was in full swing, I decided that the pumpkin needed a friend, so I knit an eggplant in the same yarn in the colorway called Moon Shine...a deep dark brownish purple. 
The vegetables went over very well, and Katie the Cutie at the store suggested that I knit a Warty Gourd. Never having knit a bobble before, I looked it up in one of the myriad books and off I went. I started a Delica Squash but once I left Ashland I never finished it. Maybe one day, but not today.
In order to fly to Ashland, you actually fly into Medford and drive 15 miles south. This is the little tiny plane we flew on. Goodbye Ashland, thanks for the wonderful time. I will be back with my family!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Steven Found the Ballwinder!
Steven, Lainie, Jaimie and Ryan came for a visit yesterday. I was working on the kits for the 'yarn feast' in Ashland next Friday evening.
Lainie and Steven were quite entranced by the ball winders in the studio. I have a large one for production and a tiny one for the kits. Everyone wound a ball of yarn, but Steven...he wanted to become an expert at it.
Here is Steven working on his ball winding skills. He attempted at least five times and was perturbed that he didn't get it perfect.
Hey Steven, do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Lainie and Steven were quite entranced by the ball winders in the studio. I have a large one for production and a tiny one for the kits. Everyone wound a ball of yarn, but Steven...he wanted to become an expert at it.
Here is Steven working on his ball winding skills. He attempted at least five times and was perturbed that he didn't get it perfect.
Hey Steven, do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
So Fast!
Monday, October 6th, Shawna and I had been out for an hour and forty five minutes practicing her driving skills in Gilda the Golden, my 1991 Mercedes 300TE station wagon. A little while later, we were on our way to Shawna's driving school class, which you can.not.be.late.for. and the transmission decided it was finished. Phil came on the motorcycle with proper shoes and helmet and jacket for Shawna and managed to get her to class with two minutes to spare! Whew!
I had Gilda towed home and for the past ten days I have been vascillating about what to do. I do believe that if a compression check shows her cylinders to be good I will have the transmission rebuilt.
You should have seen poor Shawna's face when the car died..."do you think I did that to Gilda?" Our wonderful neighbors and friends have been loaning us their cars and motorcycles for transportation and to allow Shawna to continue her practice. And no, Shawna, you didn't do that to Gilda!
Can you believe that this is the best photo I have of my Gilda? If you look closely you will see that we have our kitchen set up in the back. We were car camping at Cachuma Lake at the 2005 Vintage Rally put on by John and Donna Mulrean. At the time this photo was taken, it was cocktail hour and we were making margaritas. These are our friends Nina and Scott, they are both members of the Antique Motorcycle Club of San Diego.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Our neighbor Steven, last week when someone asked us about our neighborhood, said, "It is like having one great big front yard and it rocks!" I must agree.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Saturday, October 11th, we had another dinner with our neighbors as I had decided that dinner rolls and lasagna were in order. You see, Steven's wife Lainie is an amazing woman. She has been making her own bread for a long time with a bread machine. She uses the dough cycle and then bakes it in the oven to perfection. This is not her only amazing skill, she is a home schooling mom of four very active, bright and well behaved children, and if that isn't enough to be called amazing...well, she is an incredible friend and human being too.
Here she is enjoying fresh grilled panzanella in my backyard:
After Phil bottled his plum wine a few weeks back, I found my bread machine in the pantry behind where all the carboys of wine were being stored. Lainie gave me a wonderful recipe for dinner rolls that are scrumptious!
Once Steven quoted a line in a book about bread that he wanted to sink his teeth into with "lumps of cheese" in it...I am the experimenter, so off I went to work on that request for our family dinner together. I made three batches of rolls and was not surprised that they didn't last the weekend!
Three varieties were made and tested: chunks/lumps of cheddar, blue cheese and sauteed garlic and butter.
Before they finished the second rising:
After baking:
Being taste tested by sweet Toddie - a definite YUM!
Being tast tested by sweet but "camera shy" Shawna - another YUM!
These rolls were "clover" rolls, three pieces of dough in the roll pan and let them rise together. I put the fillings in between the pieces of dough. As you can see from the photo above, they rise really well. Alot of the cheese was pushed up in the rising but melted back down in the baking. When I do it again, I will make sure the cheese is further down in the roll pan as the dough is so powerful strong it tries to eject the cheese!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Look at our handsome double decker kitties. These are the boys of the house. Value is the black and white unit above and he is Shawna's baby. He is about seven months old now. Mr. Cosworth Motors is the black kittie on the bottom, he will be two years old in November and he is my baby boy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And last but not least, I am preparing for my big Autumn teaching trip. This year I will be going to Ashland, Oregon to teach my color class, as well as an evening event called a "yarn feast" at The Web*sters. I am excited about that theme because I like to make kits that showcase our yarns and I have clear egg cartons that are great for that purpose. Here is a preview as I build the yarn feast!
I took this photo last year in Port Townsend, Washington where I have taught and had yarn events for the past three years at The Twisted Ewe. Suzanne Murray, the owner, brings me in on the last weekend of October to do events surrounding our yarns to coincide with a big knitting retreat at Fort Worden, where the movie An Officer and A Gentlemen was filmed. Isn't it gorgeous?
Here is a photo of the shop. I really like going to Pt. Townsend and look forward to it all year.
Phil is going with me this year and he is excited because there is an awesome record shop in Pt. T called Quimper Sound where I made friends with a staffer there named Michael Townsend...no relation to the town! I walked in with Phil's music list last year and asked him if he could help me find something on the list and he freaked out! Wanted to know if I had time for him to read the whole list before I left. Phil's music list is eclectic and quite long. I had Michael find all of the best albums of the groups Phil was interested in for his Christmas and Birthday presents. Michael T did a stellar job of finding music for my sweetie, and the gift was such a hit that he has requested I do it again this year!
This year, Michael is putting on a musical show the weekend we are there that has to do with the themes of heaven and hell in music and there will be a great variety of artists. Should be wonderful!
I had Gilda towed home and for the past ten days I have been vascillating about what to do. I do believe that if a compression check shows her cylinders to be good I will have the transmission rebuilt.
You should have seen poor Shawna's face when the car died..."do you think I did that to Gilda?" Our wonderful neighbors and friends have been loaning us their cars and motorcycles for transportation and to allow Shawna to continue her practice. And no, Shawna, you didn't do that to Gilda!
Can you believe that this is the best photo I have of my Gilda? If you look closely you will see that we have our kitchen set up in the back. We were car camping at Cachuma Lake at the 2005 Vintage Rally put on by John and Donna Mulrean. At the time this photo was taken, it was cocktail hour and we were making margaritas. These are our friends Nina and Scott, they are both members of the Antique Motorcycle Club of San Diego.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Our neighbor Steven, last week when someone asked us about our neighborhood, said, "It is like having one great big front yard and it rocks!" I must agree.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Saturday, October 11th, we had another dinner with our neighbors as I had decided that dinner rolls and lasagna were in order. You see, Steven's wife Lainie is an amazing woman. She has been making her own bread for a long time with a bread machine. She uses the dough cycle and then bakes it in the oven to perfection. This is not her only amazing skill, she is a home schooling mom of four very active, bright and well behaved children, and if that isn't enough to be called amazing...well, she is an incredible friend and human being too.
Here she is enjoying fresh grilled panzanella in my backyard:
After Phil bottled his plum wine a few weeks back, I found my bread machine in the pantry behind where all the carboys of wine were being stored. Lainie gave me a wonderful recipe for dinner rolls that are scrumptious!
Once Steven quoted a line in a book about bread that he wanted to sink his teeth into with "lumps of cheese" in it...I am the experimenter, so off I went to work on that request for our family dinner together. I made three batches of rolls and was not surprised that they didn't last the weekend!
Three varieties were made and tested: chunks/lumps of cheddar, blue cheese and sauteed garlic and butter.
Before they finished the second rising:
After baking:
Being taste tested by sweet Toddie - a definite YUM!
Being tast tested by sweet but "camera shy" Shawna - another YUM!
These rolls were "clover" rolls, three pieces of dough in the roll pan and let them rise together. I put the fillings in between the pieces of dough. As you can see from the photo above, they rise really well. Alot of the cheese was pushed up in the rising but melted back down in the baking. When I do it again, I will make sure the cheese is further down in the roll pan as the dough is so powerful strong it tries to eject the cheese!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Look at our handsome double decker kitties. These are the boys of the house. Value is the black and white unit above and he is Shawna's baby. He is about seven months old now. Mr. Cosworth Motors is the black kittie on the bottom, he will be two years old in November and he is my baby boy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And last but not least, I am preparing for my big Autumn teaching trip. This year I will be going to Ashland, Oregon to teach my color class, as well as an evening event called a "yarn feast" at The Web*sters. I am excited about that theme because I like to make kits that showcase our yarns and I have clear egg cartons that are great for that purpose. Here is a preview as I build the yarn feast!
I took this photo last year in Port Townsend, Washington where I have taught and had yarn events for the past three years at The Twisted Ewe. Suzanne Murray, the owner, brings me in on the last weekend of October to do events surrounding our yarns to coincide with a big knitting retreat at Fort Worden, where the movie An Officer and A Gentlemen was filmed. Isn't it gorgeous?
Here is a photo of the shop. I really like going to Pt. Townsend and look forward to it all year.
Phil is going with me this year and he is excited because there is an awesome record shop in Pt. T called Quimper Sound where I made friends with a staffer there named Michael Townsend...no relation to the town! I walked in with Phil's music list last year and asked him if he could help me find something on the list and he freaked out! Wanted to know if I had time for him to read the whole list before I left. Phil's music list is eclectic and quite long. I had Michael find all of the best albums of the groups Phil was interested in for his Christmas and Birthday presents. Michael T did a stellar job of finding music for my sweetie, and the gift was such a hit that he has requested I do it again this year!
This year, Michael is putting on a musical show the weekend we are there that has to do with the themes of heaven and hell in music and there will be a great variety of artists. Should be wonderful!
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
John Mulrean ~ Huge Heart of San Diego Antique Motorcycling Community Ends His Fight with Cancer
Phil B, John M & Nina P Cachuma Rally 2005
October 6, 2008 ~ John Mulrean passed away at 10AM today ending his long battle with cancer.
"Uncle Smoochie Bear" was cantankerous, grouchy and opinionated. He also was a helluva guy. John would give a fellow vintage bike person the shirt off his back. He was a major player in SDAMC for years back when Ellen and I joined in 1990. He was a heavy-lifter back in the old Del Mar days, quick to get his hands dirty. He was a good shadetree mechanic, eager to wrench for anyone with a problem. His knowledge of Brit bikes and his parts supply were endless. He and Donna worked tirelessly on the Cachuma Rally, a favorite project for him. Anyone that attended any of these NorCal events knew and respected his hard work and dedication.
Some folks leave a hole in life that will be difficult to fill. I might not always have agreed with John but it never stopped me from respecting him and I'll miss his powerful "lift-me-off-the-ground" bear hugs. Godspeed, "Uncle Smoochie." You will be missed and never replaced.
Sadly, Joe and Ellen Michaud
~ ~ ~ ~
Thanks Joe for letting us all know about John. What a sad day this is.
I will remember many things about John but his generosity reigns supreme. He seemed eager to provide whenever someone was in need. Whatever it was. Once he provided a trailer with a generator to an ex-racer who needed to hook up his dialysis machine. That was on a Yosemite Labor Day weekend a few yrs back.
I will miss his strong hug and great big smile too. I could always count on that.
Love and blessings to you John!
Nina Pacelli
~ ~ ~ ~
Well said Joe. Uncle Smoochie Bear was the only one that would go up in a bi-plane with me at the Gillespie Field air show. I will miss him... and that damned giant fish he carried around at Cachuma. I'll think about him every time I see a bi-plane or a big man on a Matchless. That's how I'll remember him - flogging that Matchless, with a grin on his face.
Cat Frazier
~ ~ ~ ~
John was a tireless worker, and a fine and generous man. He will be rememebred as an asset to the world.
Phil Boncer
~ ~ ~ ~
Fri Oct 10, 2008 7:08 pm
Hi everyone-
I'm not a chat room person, so hope this gets to the right place.
Please know I'm very touched by your comments about John aka Uncle Smoochie Bear . I guess I've been so busy with taking care of John and his loves of life, I just never realized much he was respected and loved. There are people coming from San Francisco, and the Santa Barbara area just to say good-bye to my Sweet Baboo - I'm stunned by the outpouring of emails, articles, phone calls, cards, flowers....... I'm doing OK. Like several of you, I'm missing his hugs and big smiles. Everyone tells me I'm strong and will be just fine eventually. Wish I had their crystal balls. I just remember he is out of pain at last. He was a doing person, and giving guy, and he hasn't been able to be there for his friends for much of the time these past years. That was such a hurt for him - not being able to help me and others. Thank you for reminding me of the impact he had on you.
Donna Jo M
October 6, 2008 ~ John Mulrean passed away at 10AM today ending his long battle with cancer.
"Uncle Smoochie Bear" was cantankerous, grouchy and opinionated. He also was a helluva guy. John would give a fellow vintage bike person the shirt off his back. He was a major player in SDAMC for years back when Ellen and I joined in 1990. He was a heavy-lifter back in the old Del Mar days, quick to get his hands dirty. He was a good shadetree mechanic, eager to wrench for anyone with a problem. His knowledge of Brit bikes and his parts supply were endless. He and Donna worked tirelessly on the Cachuma Rally, a favorite project for him. Anyone that attended any of these NorCal events knew and respected his hard work and dedication.
Some folks leave a hole in life that will be difficult to fill. I might not always have agreed with John but it never stopped me from respecting him and I'll miss his powerful "lift-me-off-the-ground" bear hugs. Godspeed, "Uncle Smoochie." You will be missed and never replaced.
Sadly, Joe and Ellen Michaud
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Thanks Joe for letting us all know about John. What a sad day this is.
I will remember many things about John but his generosity reigns supreme. He seemed eager to provide whenever someone was in need. Whatever it was. Once he provided a trailer with a generator to an ex-racer who needed to hook up his dialysis machine. That was on a Yosemite Labor Day weekend a few yrs back.
I will miss his strong hug and great big smile too. I could always count on that.
Love and blessings to you John!
Nina Pacelli
~ ~ ~ ~
Well said Joe. Uncle Smoochie Bear was the only one that would go up in a bi-plane with me at the Gillespie Field air show. I will miss him... and that damned giant fish he carried around at Cachuma. I'll think about him every time I see a bi-plane or a big man on a Matchless. That's how I'll remember him - flogging that Matchless, with a grin on his face.
Cat Frazier
~ ~ ~ ~
John was a tireless worker, and a fine and generous man. He will be rememebred as an asset to the world.
Phil Boncer
~ ~ ~ ~
Fri Oct 10, 2008 7:08 pm
Hi everyone-
I'm not a chat room person, so hope this gets to the right place.
Please know I'm very touched by your comments about John aka Uncle Smoochie Bear . I guess I've been so busy with taking care of John and his loves of life, I just never realized much he was respected and loved. There are people coming from San Francisco, and the Santa Barbara area just to say good-bye to my Sweet Baboo - I'm stunned by the outpouring of emails, articles, phone calls, cards, flowers....... I'm doing OK. Like several of you, I'm missing his hugs and big smiles. Everyone tells me I'm strong and will be just fine eventually. Wish I had their crystal balls. I just remember he is out of pain at last. He was a doing person, and giving guy, and he hasn't been able to be there for his friends for much of the time these past years. That was such a hurt for him - not being able to help me and others. Thank you for reminding me of the impact he had on you.
Donna Jo M
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